Lynne Walz

Walz grew up on her family’s small hog farm outside Fremont, graduated from Arlington High School in 1981 and earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Midland Lutheran College in 1994.⁠[1]

Before entering the Legislature she worked as a teacher, caregiver and realtor and for a nonprofit supporting people with developmental disabilities. She served on the Bergan school board and the Fremont Chamber of Commerce board and as president of the Fremont Board of Realtors.⁠[1]

In 2016 Walz defeated incumbent state senator David Schnoor with 51.39 percent of the vote to win District 15, which covers Dodge County and a small part of western Douglas County, and took office on January 4, 2017. She was re-elected in 2020 with 59.6 percent and left office on January 8, 2025, because of term limits; she was succeeded by Dave Wordekemper.⁠[1][2]

In the Legislature she served on the Education, Natural Resources and Health and Human Services committees and chaired the Education Committee in 2021–2022. The Fraternal Order of Police named her Legislator of the Year.⁠[1][3]

In 2018 Walz ran for lieutenant governor as the running mate of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Krist; the ticket lost to Republicans Pete RickettsPete RickettsPete Ricketts is an American Republican politician and former President and Chief Operating Officer of Ameritrade who served as Governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023 and has represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate since 2023. On November 3, 2026, he won re-election to the Senate, defeating independent Dan Osborn.Open the full entry and Mike Foley, 41.0 percent to 59.0 percent.⁠[1]

On November 24, 2025, Walz announced that she was forming a gubernatorial exploratory committee, saying, “Our political system is broken.”⁠[2]

After a two-month exploratory committee and statewide listening tour, she announced her candidacy for governor in Fremont on January 21, 2026, pledging to focus on “creating and attracting good-paying jobs,” “supporting our public schools” and “lowering the cost of food, health care and day care.”⁠[3][4]

In the May 12, 2026, Democratic primary Walz won the gubernatorial nomination with 91.5 percent of the vote, defeating Larry Marvin.⁠[5][6]

In the November 3 gubernatorial election Walz and her running mate, Ben Steffen, faced incumbent Republican Governor Jim Pillen and his running mate, Joe Kelly, along with Brett Lindstrom of the America First Party Nebraska and Rick Beard of the Legal Marijuana Now Party. The Associated Press called the race for Pillen just before 2 a.m. Central time on November 4.⁠[5][7]

Walz conceded on the morning of November 4, saying, “This isn’t the result we hoped for, but this campaign was always about bringing Nebraskans together.”⁠[7]

X: Public account: https://x.com/lynnewalz (opens in a new window).⁠[8]